In any industry, in any business and in any country there is an ever-present commonality that functions as an integral part of operations:  Member Meetings.  Whether town hall meetings, board meetings or shareholder meetings, some member meetings can appear to not be worth the time and effort it takes to organize and hold them. Often times, meetings seem to actually slow things down rather than push them forward.

So how do you know whether or not your proposed meetings have strategic value, and after you know, how do you increase value it if it falls a bit short?  There are 4 key areas of measurement to help determine the meeting’s strategic value:

1. Portfolio Management – The value of an organization’s overall meeting portfolio and the management of meetings as an investment.  This involves measuring effectiveness and efficiency and stressing importance on why you’re holding the meeting.
2. Measurement – Essential to understanding the meeting impact.  Measuring can be done at various levels to help make decisions concerning your past, current and future events that might be in the queue.  In a simple sense, your ROI.
3. Meeting Design – Shaping both the form and content of member meetings.  A properly designed meeting allows efficiency and effectiveness to increase as behavioral outcomes are controlled.  If you maximize interactivity, your return on investment will rise.
4. Advanced Logistics – Includes everything from venues to travel arrangements to lodging to contracts, as well as the environment the meeting will take place in.  Sometimes, just selecting the right venue and environment can help the success of the meeting.

Once these 4 key elements are assessed, you can start implementing changes to ensure all meetings are beneficial to your business.  It’s important to think outside the box when you are designing and planning meetings.  Always focus on the individual impact items that build an event in order to benefit the company and meeting members.

Can increasing interactivity among members yield a higher ROI and better managed portfolio?  To learn more about interactive member meetings, including audience response systems, visit http://www.imlaudienceresponse.com/.

Receive all of the latest news on member meetings, unique fundraisers, event planning and interactive voting by subscribing to the Purple Carpet Event Blog RSS feed or by email. Or follow us on Twitter.

4 Key Elements of Strategic Member Meetings was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Which high-profile drug maker recently began allowing shareholders to vote on executive compensation at shareholder meetings?

A. Pfizer

B. AstraZeneca

C. GlaxoSmithKline

If you chose “A. Pfizer,” you’re correct.

Beginning in 2010, Pfizer shareholders will be able to approve or vote against executive compensation for the CEO, CFO and other top execs every two years, according to ABC News. The drug maker’s first shareholder meeting to be affected by the decision is tentatively scheduled for April.

Pfizer follows in the footsteps of Microsoft, which in September made the decision to give shareholders a vote on executive compensation every three years.

Extending the voting power of shareholders will require companies to put voting processes under completely detailed scrutiny. When leveraging voting systems, companies must ensure the systems can provide 100% accuracy and an immediate, full audit trail of attendance and participation.

Looking for more of the latest trends in shareholder meetings? Subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event Blog RSS feed or by email. Or follow us on Twitter.

Latest Shareholder Meeting Trend: Shareholders Voting on Executive Pay was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Best practices for corporate shareholder meetings are constantly evolving to better ensure accuracy, fairness and order. Leverage the 4 latest trends below to maximize success at your company’s next shareholder meeting.

1. Green shareholder meetings. Corporations are looking to further reduce their carbon footprint and ensure environmental responsibility by taking efforts to green their meetings. Miller Tanner Associates, for example, opted to reduce waste and mitigate negative environmental impact for a recent meeting for the pharmaceutical industry. But it needed to do so in a way that would not compromise the training, interactive format and informational elements of the meeting.

The meeting utilized an online interface that allowed virtual participants to submit questions and enabled presenters to interact with the audience. All event materials, binders and surveys were distributed digitally. Learn more about how Miller Tanner Associates achieved a green meeting.

2. The need for transparency. For many corporations, the need to remain transparent to stakeholders and the general public is growing. Some organizations are using their shareholder meetings to achieve this necessary transparency. In October, Oxygen Biotherapeutics Inc. opened up its general meeting to the public by offering a live webcast of the meeting. The webcast included the formal business meeting and the subsequent management presentation. In this presentation, executives provided an update on the company’s product development plans. Interested participants could easily access the webcast from the company’s website.

3. Live voting results. A growing number of organizations are demanding live voting results for optimal efficiency and accuracy. Today’s advanced electronic voting systems and keypads are providing that capability. For example, British Airways used an electronic voting system to display live voting results to shareholders immediately during a recent meeting. The system provided British Airways with automated registration for shareholders, instant identification of registrants, 100% accurate voting results and a detailed audit trail.

4. Additional power for shareholders. Corporations in many different industries are adopting policies allowing shareholders to call special meetings in between annual or planned meetings. This measure prevents shareholders from being isolated in the case that a special meeting is called by a company leader in between an annual meeting. Two of the latest corporations to do so are Sprint and Motorola. Many companies in the oil industry have adopted similar policies, as well.

Try using some of these ideas to improve your next shareholder meeting. Learn how audience response systems offered by IML can help you implement these techniques.

4 Top Trends for Shareholder Meetings was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

IML Connector Audience Response System

Attendees at this week’s International Confex Exhibition in London got a firsthand, exclusive view of the brand-new IML Connector audience interaction and voting tool.

Not there? Not to worry.

We’ve got our own exclusive look at the new audience response system.

The audience response device – in direct response to event producer demand – reduces the amount of hardware necessary for attendees to fully participate in events. The single handheld device combines:

• Multiple audio channels and portable PA system
• Instant voting with configurable menus and choices
• “Push to talk” functionality, allowing attendees to ask questions without waiting for the mic

The Connector audience response system takes interaction to a whole new level by incorporating intuitive features such as an accelerometer that detects tilt and orientation. Imagine using the Connector at your next event to capture an actual show of hands.

User-friendly features have also been incorporated into the Connector. In place of an industry-standard alpha-numeric keypad, the Connector utilizes a QWERTY keyboard. Plus, the device offers a color screen for multimedia and high-resolution graphics, which enables more detailed question and answer sessions.

Learn more about the new Connector and other audience response systems available from IML.

To receive the latest news and tips for enhancing your next event with electronic bidding and pledging, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Plus, you should follow us on Twitter today.

Gain an Exclusive Look at the Next Generation of Audience Response Systems was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Could new requirements from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) soon change the way your business conducts shareholder meetings?

The SEC has proposed several new measures to grant even more voting power to shareholders of US companies, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch.

Here’s how suggested measures could affect shareholder voting for US corporations moving forward:

Before: In general, shareholders have had a difficult time influencing the way companies operate, especially when it comes to executive pay.

After: A new SEC proposal would give shareholders a non-binding vote on executive pay.

Before: Shareholders have long had the right to nominate director candidates, but the process was extremely expensive because they had to use their own proxy documents.

After: A new SEC proposal would allow shareholders to nominate director candidates using the company’s proxy documents, thus streamlining the process and making it more cost-effective.

Before: Previously when shareholders sought to remove a director from a board without nominating their own candidates, they would cast protest votes during shareholder meetings, hoping the director would resign on his or her own.

After: A proposed measure from the SEC would prohibit brokers from casting director-election votes on behalf of investors who don’t vote. With the new measure in place, brokers can’t dilute shareholders’ message by voting on behalf of non-voting investors.

Before: Previously, executives could be re-elected in uncontested elections with just vote.

After: A new measure would require directors to win more than 50% of investor votes to be re-elected to boards. Executives not receiving a 50% vote would have to submit their resignation.

Granting additional voting rights during shareholder meetings will necessitate an even more accurate, streamlined voting process.

By leveraging electronic voting systems, companies can ensure:

• Rapid, accurate voting results
• Detailed audit trail of attendance and voting
• Quick, automated registration for shareholders
• Instant identification of shareholders with voting rights

To receive the latest tips on electronic voting for shareholder and other meetings, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Plus, you should follow us on Twitter today.

How Voting at Shareholder Meetings Could Change as a Result of New SEC Measures was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

For events from board meetings to training conferences, the emergence of public speaking 2.0 is here. A growing number of speakers are leveraging the latest technologies to make their presentations interactive and gain useful audience feedback.

Whether through social networking websites or audience response systems, meeting organizers and speakers can ensure audience members stay engaged and excited throughout presentations.

Below are a few tips on how to use technology to make presentations more interactive:

• Elicit real-time audience feedback. By allowing audience members to directly and immediately offer feedback during an event, speakers can improve presentations in real time. For example, an October Econsultantcy blog post discusses how a speaker at a recent event used Twitter to gather audience questions and answer key themes during the presentation. Audience response text messaging systems can achieve the same objective.
• Give audience members an incentive to participate. Speakers can motivate audience members to participate in the event by making it fun. For example, interactive quizzes via handheld devices help generate enthusiasm among audience members. Plus, they help invoke a lively, competitive atmosphere.
• Make it easy for audience members to participate. Meeting organizers and speakers must be aware of their audience’s level of tech knowledge – after all, not all participants know how to interact with Twitter or other social networking sites. Any technology leveraged in a meeting or other presentation must be intuitive and easy-to-use, so that audience members aren’t confused or left out of the discussion.

Now is the perfect time to embrace public speaking 2.0. With the array of technologies available to encourage participation and elicit audience feedback, meeting organizers and speakers can easily take their presentations to the next level.

To receive the latest tips on gaining audience feedback and encouraging participation during meetings or presentations, subscribe to the Purple Carpet Event RSS Feed or by email.

Gain Audience Feedback & Encourage Participation With the Latest Technologies was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Large-scale events – from silent auctions to shareholder meetings – require careful planning, monetary resources and manpower. And a few tried-and-true tips for event planning don’t hurt, either.

In a recent podcast and whitepaper from promotional product retailer 4imprint, Paulette Wolf and Donielle Levine, authors of the book “Event Planning Made Easy,” offer what they consider the first and most important tip for successful event planning:

Establish the 5 “W’s” and 1 “How.”

One by one, those 6 elements include:

1. Who are the guests or attendees?

2. What is the event being planned?

3. Where will the event be held?

4. When is the event scheduled?

5. Why is the event being held—i.e., what’s the goal of the event?

6. How much is in the budget?

Of course, those steps are just the start. From there, the detailed work begins. We’ve come up with the next 6 “W” and “How” tips for event planning:

7. Who in my organization is willing and qualified to assist in the planning?

8. What channels should I use to promote the event?

9. Where can I find tools available to ensure full audience participation and interaction?

10. When should each planning milestone be reached leading up to the event?

11. Why did similar past events succeed or fail, and what lessons learned can be taken from those events?

12. How can I maximize fundraising ROI?

What tips for event planning would you add to the list?

12 Must-Read Tips for Event Planning was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Any school board knows that when the decision is made to close a school, it often involves a heated debate and a potentially explosive board meeting. That’s exactly what happened in early August at an East Aurora School Board meeting in suburban Chicago. The emotion-filled meeting demonstrated the need for an accurate voting system and method to structure public debate.

The Beacon News reported that after weeks of examining the success of the 1-year-old Magnet Academy, the school board had planned to put the school’s future to a vote during the Aug. 3 meeting. But that vote never occurred. Instead, dozens of passionate parents, school administrators and teachers filled the meeting room and flooded out into the hallway to fight to keep the school for gifted students alive.

School administrators arrived armed with a PowerPoint presentation to argue their case for retaining the program. Parents, some in tears, voiced their frustration that the decision was coming just weeks before the beginning of the school year. Some even said they weren’t aware of the potential plans to close the school until the day of the board meeting, The Fox Valley Villages Sun reported.

After 3 hours of back-and-forth debate, board members decided not to put the school’s future to a vote. Instead, they voted unanimously to continue discussion on the topic at a later meeting.

School Board Meetings: Structure the Debate

There’s no denying that the discussion to close a school elicits a deep emotional response. For parents, it involves the well-being and future of their children. For teachers and administrators, it could mean an end to their livelihood.

But it’s difficult to make an informed, confident decision on a critical issue when emotions are high and voices are loud. To be most effective, events like school board meetings must devise a voting system or plan to:

• Remove as much emotion as possible to achieve a consensus. This is particularly true with a subject as sensitive as a school closing.

• Gain open and honest feedback from all parties. Both board members and attendees must avoid group mentality, where the strongest opinion becomes the opinion for all. Offer everyone an equal opportunity to voice their opinion. The loudest are heard first, but all opinions deserve to be voiced.

• Structure the debate and discussion in an orderly fashion. When meetings turn into screaming matches, it’s tough to make progress.

• Allow for anonymous voting when necessary. Voting should be instantaneous and accurate as well.

Wireless audience response systems are a simple and effective way to structure the debate. These products can provide microphone queuing for more democratic Q&A sessions. Some can allow moderators to gauge audience reaction at any given moment. Products can also ensure every audience member’s voice counts by allowing them to vote secretly, without pressure from peers.

Perhaps with tools like these, the East Aurora School Board meeting could have gathered opinions in a more timely, efficient and organized manner in order to advance toward a decision.

How do you think school board meetings could be improved by structuring the debate?

Voting System Needed: Heated School Board Meeting Ends in No Decision was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Ray Hansen

Ray Hansen, Director for audience response systems provider IML, was recently named the 2008-2009 Supplier Volunteer of the Year by the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) WestField Chapter. The award does not simply signify the financial contribution of IML to MPI by its membership. Rather, the award celebrates its dedication to actively improving the meetings and events industry.

IML takes an active role in MPI to acquire valuable knowledge about the profession and where it’s headed. That knowledge is necessary in order to create the most effective audience response systems to help the meetings and events profession succeed.

MPI is the meetings and events industry’s largest and most vibrant global community. It provides networking and educational opportunities for members through conferences and seminars, continuing education courses, publications and scholarships.

The WestField Chapter of MPI was founded in 1989 to serve the Westchester, NY and Fairfield, CT counties. Each year, it announces its annual chapter award winners, including chapter leader of the year, rising star, meeting planner volunteer of the year and lifetime achievement award.

Here is the full list of the 2008-2009 MPI WestField Chapter Award Winners:

• Margaret Moynihan Chapter Leader of the Year: Rick Weaver
• Rising Star: Victoria Damiani
• Supplier Volunteer of the Year: Ray Hansen
• Meeting Planner Volunteer of the Year: Jerry Longo, CMP
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Carolyn Browning, CMP
• Silver Platter Award: Edith Macy Conference Center
• Style Award: Greentree Country Club
• President’s Award: Heather Perrone, CMP

Ray Hansen of Audience Response System Provider IML Presented Industry Award was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com

Photo Credit: Tiffany Oelfke

When you host a corporate meeting, fundraiser or silent auction, you risk rolling out a red carpet no different from any other in the eyes of your audience.  If you are renting out a conference center, in fact, you may be rolling out the exact same red carpet.

In helping thousands of organizations and non-profits host successful red-carpet events, audience response systems company IML has learned that audience interaction is key to a memorable gala or meeting.

Using our systems, organizations and non-profits have hosted red carpet events that have resonated so strongly, the shade of the red carpet transformed into a deeper shade of purple.

To share these successful purple carpet stories with you, and help you write some of your own, audience response systems company IML proudly launches our blog, “The Purple Carpet Event Blog.”

Concepts you find here will help you host successful red carpet events with topics including:

• Interactive voting solutions for efficient corporate meetings
• Creative ideas for exceptional fundraising dinners
• Profitable suggestions for silent auctions that exceed projections

We commit to ensuring the information you find on The Purple Carpet Experience will be invaluable as you plan your next event.

If you have questions or topics you would like to see in upcoming posts, please leave ideas below in the comments.

Audience Response Systems Transform Red-Carpet Events Into The Purple Carpet Experience was posted at Purple Carpet Event Blog. | http://www.purplecarpeteventblog.com